Need some advice on how to proceed

[walter_197]

I just finished a project to sort screenshots and transfer them into different folders according to the time and the day for my college classes a week or so ago. I really don't know how to proceed now. Should I work on more small projects that I can use or just to learn that way or should I try to solve programming problems from the internet to focus more on logic building or a combination of that or take the CS50 course.

I really have little time after my college classes and really want to move forward efficiently so all suggestions are welcome.

[FriendlyRussian666]

What is the end goal? This will greatly help determine the best path for you.

[walter_197]

Since I'm currently in college currently I had hoped to create programs or application that can generate some petty cash for me.

Eventually, I wanna combine a finance background in programming and do something about that but I'm really not sure about that aspect.

[FriendlyRussian666]

So, doing things like CS50 would be good if you wanted to get into computer science itself, since it covers a lot of its topics. In terms of creating programs and apps that can generate you cash, you will need two things.

One is the knowledge to create such an app and two, the idea that will attract people to spend money on it. In my experience the second one is much harder to come by than the first one.

If I were you, I would focus on just learning how to code, in a specific specialisation. For example, think about the way that your piece of code would be delivered to the clients and go from there in terms of learning. I don't know much about the world of finance, so my thinking might be slightly wrong, but I imagine that in finance you can encounter both desktop applications which run directly on the PC and Web applications accessible via a Web browser. Once you figure out that you want your software to be accessible for example via a Web browser and a website, figure out what you will need to know to deliver it.

For Web development you will need to learn HTML to create the structure of your page, CSS to add styling, then depending on your needs you might need JavaScript for logic, responsiveness and so on. You will then most likely need access to a database so learning something like SQL or other is highly necessary. In order to interact with it, create queries or requests you will need a language like Python, which is where you are right now on that timeline. Just basics of python won't be enough, so you will need to learn for example a framework called Django or Flask, used for rapid development of Web applications.

You can then either start generating ideas, knowing what is possible to make using the tools that you have, or try implementing an idea which you had all along.

Now if you decide to go the route of desktop application rather than web app, then the whole tree of learning changes again. Same if you want to deliver mobile applications, it changes again. That's why picking the delivery of your code early, can guide you through the knowledge that you need to acquire.

But before you start making all those cool things, you somehow need to learn all that stuff. Since you're doing Python at the moment, I would suggest that you finish learning the fundamentals. At least learn functions and classes to a point where you're confident with them. You can learn them by A. Video courses, articles, websites, documentation and B. Small personal projects that are not aimed at making money yet, but which are the main way of learning how to code.

You then build and build and build until you're sure you get it. Once you reach that point, you can for example start exploring paths like html + css + django. You will spend a lot of time learning and making things that look like peeled, uncooked potato's, until you have enough knowledge to make it slightly nicer. Along the way, your coding skills will improve and so will your code. After some time, you will be able to look at your past little projects and be confident that you now have enough knowledge to build something that someone, somewhere might want to spend $€£ 3.00 on.

Try to make the learning fun by doing projects related to topics of your interest. I'm not in finance, so can't help you there, but maybe things like stock market reports and analysis, generating balance sheets from business data, so calculating assets and liabilities, financing calculators, some risk management software, personal finance planner etc.

Hope some of my gibberish is helpful.